The decision to involve troops on the ground who were armed with demolition charges was made to ensure that the facility was destroyed entirely, the officials said. Israel had struck the facility repeatedly in the past, and in 2018 it assassinated a Syrian rocket scientist who worked at the center developing precision-guided munitions.

Koulouriotis tweets that roads surrounding the facility were targeted with airstrikes to stop Syrian troops reaching the area, before the Israeli helicopters carrying special forces approached the area, with air support from combat helicopters and drones.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) - a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground - Israeli air and artillery strikes have targeted Syrian territory on more than 60 occasions since the start of the year.

The missile production facility was destroyed in the attack, according to Western officials. Syrian state media reported that 18 people were killed in the strike.

Israeli special forces killed at least 16 people and struck a blow against a suspected Iranian missile factory, U.S. officials said.

Israel destroyed a secretive missile production facility in northwest Syria last week in an attack that included inserting special operations forces by helicopter to retrieve equipment and documents,

IDF ‘special operation’ reported after international condemnation of Gaza air strike which killed six UN workers

Earlier this week, an underground missile plant built by Iran was destroyed in Syria during a ground operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), citing Axios. First ground operation by IDF in Syria in years According to three sources familiar with the situation,